Standing Guard
by potidaea
Summary: Yvonne/Karen, Maxi/Lauren; When Lauren comes to visit Yvonne, her interests are piqued by a certain prisoner...


As Yvonne Atkins waited in the visitors' room, she recalled the day, many months earlier that her daughter had visited her. It hadn't been very different from today, except for the fact that she had this unbearable dark cloud over her head. There was really no need.

_Her daughter sat down, took a deep breath, and said, "I have something to tell you."_

_That was the Atkins way. Straight-forward, to the point._

"_Good, because I do, too." The woman smiled slightly at her daughter, encouraging her._

_Another deep breath. "I'm bi, Mum." _

_Yvonne processed the three syllables, and then burst out in laughter. That was not at all what she was expecting. Hell, at least she knew that on a moral standpoint, Lauren wouldn't have a problem, with what she was about to say._

"_Mum! This isn't funny! Why are you laughing?" _

_Through her laughter, she said, "Because of what I have to tell you." _

"_And that is…?" _

"_I'm dating a woman."_

_Lauren sat shell-shocked, but recovered slowly, "Do you think you're gay? I mean, Dad wasn't exactly your best pick." _

"_I don't know, maybe." _

"_Who is she?"_

"_Call this number." She said, proceeding to write out her girlfriend's phone number._

Oh, what Yvonne would've paid to see the look on her daughter's face when Karen Betts answered the phone.

Yvonne was broken out of her reverie when Lauren walked through the door, Sylvia Hollamby yelling for her.

"Hey, Mum." Lauren said, smiling as she stepped forward to hug her mother, then sitting down as they were yelled at for "smuggling drugs."

"Hi, darling. How're you?"

"Good, how's this place treating you?"

"Can't say it's too bad." She said, smirking.

Lauren laughed, "Given your situation, I'd imagine it's quite nice."

The older woman nodded, "Quite."

"How are things at home?"

"They're good. Lonely, but good."

"I'm not against someone living there with you until I'm out, you know."

"I know. It's just weird. I mean, it's _our_ house."

"Think about it, aye?"

"I will."

Yvonne was about to ask another question, but noticed the very distracted look on her daughter's face.

"What?"

Nodding in the direction of another table, "Who's she?"

Yvonne turned her head just when the woman in question felt eyes on her.

"What're you lookin' at Atkins?" was the brunette's venom-filled response to the speculation.

Yvonne looked to her daughter, who was now, looking down, her hair covering her face in a curtain. Atkins weren't betting people, but Yvonne would place a month's spends that her daughter was hiding a blushing face under her thick, dark locks.

"Lauren…"

"What?"

"Under no circumstances are you to go near her."

"Why not?"

"I said, under no circumstances."

"At least tell me her name!"

"No."

"It's just a name, Mum!"

She couldn't believe it. Her twenty-four year old daughter was whining.

"I'm no idiot. I know what you can do with 'just a name'."

"But!"

"End of discussion."

"Fine. See you next time."

And with that, Lauren got up to leave…twenty minutes early.

Yvonne let her head hang for just a second after watching her daughter walk away from the table. That was when she swooped in. 'She' being Maxi bloody Purvis. "Aw, look at the poor ol' cow. Your lil' friend finally come to her senses?"

Lauren, albeit pissed off, didn't stand for her family, especially her mother, being spoken to in such a manner. She quickly turned around, making her way over to the other woman's table. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but the only poor old cow here is you. Speak to my mother like that again, and you won't know what hit you. Got it?"

Somehow Maxi knew this girl was serious. She'd heard stories of Yvonne's family, but how was this girl going to get to her on the inside? She didn't know, but she sure as hell wasn't going to find out.

"Yeah, I've got it."

Lauren, still fuming, remembered something. "What's your name, you little twat?"

"Maxi Purvis"

"Nice doing business with you, Maxi."

Lauren walked away after shaking hands with the con, then sitting back down with her mother.

"Was that an alright circumstance?"

"Yeah…you seemed to use it to your advantage, though."

She smirked, "All in a day's work, Mum."

"So…when does she get out?"

"Never."

"Bloody hell. She's a lifer?" Lauren banged her head against the table, then, mumbling into the table, "I'm never going to have sex again, am I?"

"First of all, I didn't need to hear that. And second, not if you stay away from her. Or, third, if you get locked up…"

Lauren reached across the table, smacking her mother's arm.

"Hey, I wasn't talking hard time! Just a shoplifting conviction; some people only get 16 days for that. I _assume_ that's enough time to get off?"

"Mum…why does she have to be so bloody gorgeous?"

"Because she's so evil?" Her mother supplied.

"Don't say that!"

"She tried to pin murder on me. I think I'm allowed to."

"No, Fenner tried to, not her."

"She's not your bloody girlfriend, Lauren; you're not obliged to defend her."

"Just 'cause you're not allowed to touch your girlfriend doesn't mean you can be bitter."

"And just because you think a cold blooded killer is 'bloody gorgeous' doesn't mean can't point out her faults."

"Mum! I think you're going overboard."

"She killed a woman because she thought that's what her little boyfriend wanted. Would you really want that on your hands?"

Karen Betts walked in just as the two started getting a bit heated, "Ladies! Ladies! What's going on here?"

They both started talking at the same time, but from what Karen could make out, Yvonne wasn't happy with Lauren's choice in woman, and Lauren obviously wasn't happy with that.

"Let's take this to my office, shall we?"

Both women nodded, getting up to follow the wing governor.

Once they'd made it to her office, Karen spoke. "Okay, so who is this about?"

Yvonne narrowed her eyes, "Maxi bloody Purvis."

Karen winced. There were many people on the wing viewed as troublemakers within the screws, Yvonne being one of them, but Maxi Purvis and Al McKenzie were the true instigators.

"Mum, come on, this so ridiculous!"

"She tried to frame me for murder! She killed O'Kane because she thought that's what Fenner wanted! Do you really think she'd do any less for an Atkins? The Atkins name holds a lot more weight than a bloody screw!" She paused, "No offense, Kar."

The governor just shook her head, letting the woman know that she didn't take any offense.

"Mum, have you even tried speaking to her before?"

"Not since she came here with Al and tried to, oh, I don't know…kill Shaz? I don't care what you say, Lauren. She was ordering Al to beat up Shaz daily. Denny is no less a part of this family than you, and Shaz is her partner. There was no way in hell I could sit back and watch that."

"Mum that was a long time ago. Maybe she's changed."

"All that's changed is that the gang is no more."

"Obviously if the gang isn't in existence anymore, she's a lot different."

"You don't get it, do you? How does seeing one bloody girl make you forget everything I've ever taught you? Family is the most important. Shaz and Denny are family. Maybe they're not family to you, but they are to me, and I'm your mother. _I'm_ family, Lauren."

"Family _is_ the most important. Does _she_ have family?"

"No, Lauren, she doesn't. After she decided it was best to trust Fenner, and kill O'Kane, her sister abandoned her. With good reason."

"Okay. So, shouldn't she have some semblance of family?"

Karen smiled to herself. It was always interesting to watch Lauren and Yvonne fight. They were equals in every way except age, and the fact Yvonne once saw Lauren as a vulnerable child. That did seem to give her a bit of an advantage, except when Lauren walked away, knowing Yvonne couldn't follow.

"Yes. But I don't know if it should be ours."

Lauren paused. "How the hell did it come to this anyway? All I ever did was ask you who she was and say she was –"

"Bloody gorgeous?"

"I may have said that."

"We're Atkins', darling. It happens."

"I'm sorry, Mum. If you want me to…back off, I will."

Yvonne looked to Karen, looking for some support. The governor gave her a loving smile, showing that she would back up any decision her lover made.

"No, you want this. Maybe my opinion of her is wrong, and you're right, that she has changed. I can't promise any mother-in-law/daughter-in-law bonding, though. And don't you dare tell her about Karen and I; I need to know she can be trusted first."

"Okay, but aren't we getting a little bit ahead of ourselves? I mean, I don't even know if she's remotely interested…or even anywhere off of the straight and narrow, for that matter."

"Lauren, darling, you're underestimating the Atkins charm."

Karen shook her head, laughing lightly, "I think it's time to go, Lauren. Sorry."

"Okay." She turned to Yvonne, "Good seeing you, Mum." Then over to Karen, "You too, Karen."

Karen reached back onto her desk, picking up a piece of paper, handing it to Lauren.

"Make good use of it, aye?"

Lauren looked down. It was Maxi's mailing address. She had her name, and street address, as it was the same as her mother's, but she need the woman's number in order for it to be accepted in to the prison's mail service.

A bright smile came onto her face as she reached out; hugging the woman, "Thank you so much!"

"Not a problem, Lauren." She said, smiling as she returned the hug.

Lauren walked out of the room with one last hug for her mother, then being escorted back to the visitor's area to retrieve her belongings.

"You're amazing, you know that." said Yvonne, placing a kiss on the woman's lips.

"No more amazing than you." she whispered, before returning the kiss.

They stood in contented silence, resting their foreheads together.

"I could stay like this forever." admitted Karen, "I…I love you."

They'd never said it before, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

"And I love you, Karen Betts."

After many moments of shared happiness, it was broken by the ring of a phone.

"Karen Betts…yes, she's still here…okay…will do."

Karen looked to her girlfriend after hanging up. "Darling, I'm sorry, but that was Dominic…you have to go back now."

Yvonne looked down, disappointed.

Karen placed a finger under her chin, lifting up the woman's face so their eyes would meet, "We'll see each other tomorrow, yeah?"

"It's not the same, though."

"I know, darling, but it's how it has to be."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

After one last kiss, Karen walked Yvonne to the nearest officer, who then escorted her back to G-Wing. That night both Atkins women went to sleep, content for the first time in ages; Lauren because she was finally looking forward to something that she wasn't ashamed of, Yvonne because she'd finally given her daughter something worth mentioning...the prospect of love.


End file.
